Woman’s solo effort: Driving change among women, for women

Woman’s solo effort of 40 days, over 20 cities, travelling 11,111 km aims to create awareness and encourage women to learn driving to increase their job opportunities in the transport sector

Moving Women (MOWO) Social Initiatives Foundation has launched ‘Moving Boundaries’, a campaign to encourage women to pick up driving skills and remove roadblocks to increase their job prospects.

Jai Bharathi, 39, is touring India on her motorcycle since October 11 (HT Photo)

Under this campaign, Jai Bharathi, 39, the founder of MOWO, is touring India on her motorcycle since October 11 for a period of over 40 days, covering over 20 cities, travelling a distance of 11,111 km to create awareness and encourage women to learn driving to increase their job opportunities in the transportation sector, including as taxi and e-rickshaw drivers, or, as delivery agents for e-commerce companies.

Bharathi reached Lucknow on the current leg of her tour on Sunday. Starting from Hyderabad, she has covered Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi, Goa, Pune, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Udaipur, Jaipur and New Delhi. Next on her destination itinerary is Varanasi, Patna, Guwahati, Kolkata, Ranchi, Bhubaneshwar, among others.

Commenting on ‘Moving Boundaries’, Bharathi said, “Women all over the world face restrictions on their mobility. They are unable to travel long distances to acquire a decent education or take up jobs which involve complex or unsafe commutes which results in a restricted pool of job opportunities.”

“I am very excited to take on this 40-day journey on my motorbike across the country to meet women from all strata and hold workshops to make driving an aspirational and achievable employment choice for them. Creating a safe environment where women have access to reliable transportation and they can drive their own vehicles to earn a living, is a great way to increase employment opportunities for women in a sector that has been predominantly male-centric,” the rider said.

“The campaign seeks to promote awareness on the importance of women acquiring driving skills and travelling safely to expand their horizons in all aspects of their lives. The focus is on enabling women to not only learn driving but also own electric vehicles to generate income which in turn can also reduce carbon emissions from transport,” she said.

As part of the campaign, a WhatsApp-based chatbot has been rolled out for women who would like to learn driving a two or three-wheeler vehicle or apply for a job as taxi, auto or delivery rider. The chatbot will connect them to nearby partner organisations like Even Cargo which offer training and employment opportunities to women. The chat support is available in multiple languages.

Shell Foundation, a UK-based charity and the UK government are part of the Moving Boundaries project.